A Brief History of Belle Meade Plantation
In 1807 John Harding purchased "a well watered" 250-acre tract of land six miles west of Nashville. John moved his new wife Susanna into a small log home near the Richland creek. John, known for his "energy, industry and good habits" immediately began clearing the land. New outbuildings and barns were constructed. Fields were plowed and planted. Harding used the labor of slaves to assist him in creating a productive farming operation. In 1806 he purchased a man named Ben in Richmond. Ben became Harding's blacksmith working in a shop strategically located near the main road. Harding then purchased Dicey, who became cook and housekeeper for the Harding family. John inherited Patrick who worked as a laborer on the farm.
John Harding 1879.
Belle Meade Plantation Collection.
Over the next several years Harding increased his land holdings and the farm grew to encompass more than 1000 acres. By 1816 he was boarding thoroughbred horses on the property. Racing had become a popular pastime in Nashville and Harding capitalized on the sport allowing men to keep their horses on his farm. It was said that his land was fertile and perfect for grazing. The popularity of horse racing in the South flourished and Harding's fortune grew. By 1820, a new Federal style brick house was built for John's growing family and he named his farm Belle Meade meaning "beautiful meadow".
North Façade, 1820
In the late 1830s John's son, General William Giles Harding assumed control of Belle Meade. He was widowed with the death of his first wife, Mary Selena McNairy. General Harding was interested in agriculture and new farming practices and quite capable of taking the reins. The farm boasted a grist mill, saw mill, limestone quarries, herds of Durham cattle, sheep, hogs, and thoroughbred horses. General Harding wrote a letter in 1839 to the editor of the "American Turf Register" pinpointing the beginning of the Belle Meade breeding establishment. He wrote, "Blood stock here is all the go. To be without it is to be out of fashion and destitute of taste." John Harding had been breeding horses at Belle Meade as early as 1816 when prominent Nashvillian Montgomery Bell's imported stallion Boaster stood stud at the farm. However John's talented son would capitalize on the business enterprise. Belle Meade in time would be called "One of the best stock farms in Tennessee.
General William Giles Harding, 1857
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
On January 2, 1840, General Harding married Elizabeth Irwin McGavock. She was born in Franklin at the Carnton Plantation, owned by her father Randall McGavock. The new Mrs. Harding was well educated and quite an accomplished musician. Her husband said that, except for Jenny Lind's, his wife's singing voice was the loveliest he had ever heard. Randall gave an enslaved woman named Susannah to the couple in honor of their marriage. Susannah remained an employee at Belle Meade long after slavery ended and worked for three generations of the Harding- Jackson families.
Elizabeth McGavock Harding, 1857
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
To accommodate his growing family, General Harding hired a local company to expand the house in 1853. The new addition doubled the size of the building. Six limestone columns, from his quarries, graced the front of the new addition giving it the appearance of a Grecian temple.
North Façade, 1853
In the period before the Civil War, Belle Meade flourished. The farm grew in 1860 to encompass 3500 acres with 136 enslaved people working on the vast estate. The Harding family was growing as well. In addition to a son named John Harding Jr. from General Harding's first marriage, nine children were born to Elizabeth. However, only two survived into adulthood. A daughter, Selene was born in 1846, and her sister, Mary Elizabeth was born four years later. The girls were well educated with Selene attending Madame Masse's French School for girls in Philadelphia and her Sister attending St. Cecelia's School in Nashville.
By the early 1860's, General Harding became increasingly concerned by the idea of secession. Harding was a great supporter of the notion that Tennessee should leave the union and join the new Confederacy. He would reputedly give $500,000 to support the Southern cause. Harding was appointed to a position on the Military and Financial Board for Tennessee. The Board's charge was to spend up to $5,ooo,ooo to equip an army to take the field for the South. Nashville was forced to surrender to the Union in 1862 and the new military governor, Andrew Johnson had Harding and other Confederate supporters in the city arrested. General Harding was convicted and sent to Mackinaw Island in Michigan for his sentence, leaving Mrs. Harding to handle the affairs of the farm. She wrote to him,
"This is a time to try men's souls, and principles here, and very many wives are thankful their husbands are beyond the reach of persecutions, hard to endure, and almost impossible to evade. No man feels safe from danger of arrest , and thus they live, in a state of uncertainty, expecting it from day to day; the women, bear these troubles astonishingly well., and I think the reason is, they are so hopeful, and put much faith in the divine Ruler of the destinies of men."
Harding Family Portrait, 1867
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
General Harding was released and returned home in the fall of 1862. At wars end his farm remained intact. The enslaved workers remained until the end of the conflict. Only a few families remained living on the farm after the war as paid employees. However the staff would grow to seventy four people by 1879. Racing regained popularity after the war and Belle Meade recuperated. Mrs. Harding died in 1867 leaving her daughter Selene to manage household affairs. Selene married a retired Confederate General, William Hicks Jackson, in 1868. Following a stroke in 1883, Harding turned the Belle Meade farm over to Jackson. The General had great plans for the old farm.
General William Hicks Jackson
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
The 1880's were referred to as Belle Meade's "palmy days." General and Mrs. Jackson renovated the old house in 1883 adding plumbing and eventually a new telephone. They hosted President Grover Cleveland and his new wife in 1884. Selene said, "We don't intend to put on one bit of extra display. We are giving him as good entertainment as we know how."
Jackson family Portrait, 1887
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
By the 1880s Belle Meade had gained national attention. General Jackson purchased a stallion named Iroquois in 1886, the first American winner of the English derby. This purchase and President Cleveland's visit two years earlier drew much attention to the farm. Iroquois stood stud and in the 1895 spring season commanded a $2500 fee.
Iroquois with Sam Nichol, ca.1890s
Belle Meade Plantation Collection
General and Mrs. Jackson had three children Eunice- William, and Selene. Young William inherited the Belle Meade farm following his father's death in 1903. The twentieth century brought financial difficulty for the family and when William died only months after his father, the farm was sold. Most of the farm's acreage was developed into the Belle Meade Park. It became the finest and wealthiest suburb in Nashville. The house was occupied until 1953 when it was sold to the state of Tennessee.
The State deeded the 30 acre property to the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee's Antiquities. The group opened the site as a museum in 1953. With years of restoration, the house appears now as it did in the " Palmy days" of the 1880s. Many of the Harding and Jackson family possessions have been returned and can be seen in the house today. Although the old farm is gone, you can still visit and learn about this fascinating piece of horse racing history.
Rear view of farm, 1900
Belle Meade Plantation collection
SITE MAP
The Harding and Jackson Family lived at
Belle Meade Plantation from 1807-1906.
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